Just 8 more minutes… that’s all it would’ve taken to save Angel Reese a night of pure frustration. Right before returning from a seven-game absence due to a back injury, Reese had set the tone with simple words of joy: “I want to hoop,” she said before the game against the Storm. “I’m just happy to be out here to play the game I love.” Sadly, her postgame face told a different story.

Reese didn’t get nearly enough time to play the game she loves. Her main motto heading in was “I mean, we’ve been in games by two, three, four, five points and then they break loose in the second half. So, just being able to bring that fire third quarter,” she had promised. So, did she live up to it? Well, that promise went up in smoke.

The Sky, who have made it a habit to let games slip away in the third quarter, let that very same storyline repeat itself. The first half against Seattle looked promising. They were knotted at 20–20 after one. But by the time the second rolled around, Reese’s pregame words were already sounding hollow. Chicago wasn’t trailing by two, three, four, or five. They were buried by 12 before halftime. And in the third, the very quarter Reese wanted to ignite… The gap only swelled to 16. A gap so big that a late 10-point push in the fourth couldn’t patch over the damage. Final score: 94-88, Seattle.

Here’s the kicker. That’s just a six-point difference. Six points that look small compared to Reese’s individual line: 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and one block in just 25 minutes. That comes off as nearly 0.75 points per minute. So if she had played just eight more minutes, that’s roughly another six points. Hypothetically, the game could’ve been tied. And Reese knew it. Which is why she didn’t bite her tongue postgame: “I think that second quarter is what killed us.”

No wonder she said that. Angel Reese logged just 3 minutes and 56 seconds in that frame, the least of any quarter. Coincidentally or not, it also happened to be the stretch where the Sky surrendered their biggest deficit: a 12-point swing.

“Us being able to score 38 points in the fourth quarter was great,” Reese added. And sure, it was great, but it wasn’t enough. Just like her minutes. “I was only supposed to play 25 minutes, and that sucks,” she admitted. Then she doubled down: “I am not a player that wants to be on restriction of any kind. But I did what I could do and tried to help the team win.” The problem here is that none of it mattered. Not Reese’s effort, not Chicago’s late surge, not even the context that should’ve favored the Sky:

• Storm’s Cold Streak: Seattle came in 2–8 over their last 10, with only a narrow two-point win over Atlanta keeping them from an eight-game skid. Inconsistency was their calling card.
• Recent History Favors Chicago: The Sky hadn’t been swept at home by Seattle since 2020. During their 2021 title run, they owned the matchup, and even after that, they either split or won the series.
• Better at Home vs. the West: Chicago had handled Western opponents at Wintrust Arena before, with two wins over Dallas, plus statement victories against the Sparks and powerhouse Lynx. They’d proven they could take down contenders on any given night.

All those factors should have tilted the night Chicago’s way. Instead, it was just another bad day in what has now become a bad two weeks. Since their August 6 win over the Mystics, the Sky have dropped five straight. Maybe, just maybe, eight more minutes of Angel Reese could’ve changed that.

Angel Reese sees a team effort despite the loss

While Angel Reese was the main story, she definitely wasn’t the only Chicago Sky player who made an impact in the game. Ariel Atkins matched Reese’s scoring output point-for-point by putting up 19 of her own. She also contributed five rebounds and five assists to help keep Chicago within striking distance. Kia Nurse chipped in with 13 points, and both Kamilla Cardoso and Elizabeth Williams scored in double figures as well, with each of them getting 10 points. Now, Williams, in particular, was close to a double-double off the bench. She grabbed nine rebounds to go along with her 10 points.

Even with those contributions from several players, Chicago found themselves trailing by double digits for the majority of the night. However, the team mounted a furious fourth-quarter comeback. This was capped by a 38-point team outburst in that period, and they managed to slash the deficit down to just six points before the clock ultimately ran out.

On the other side, the Seattle Storm leaned heavily on the steadiness of their veterans and their overall depth. Skylar Diggins was the game’s high scorer. She poured in 24 points on a very efficient 7-of-11 shooting performance, which included making 3-of-6 from beyond the three-point arc, and she also dished out six assists. Nneka Ogwumike also added 21 points, six rebounds, and five assists in what was a typically complete, all-around performance.

This win couldn’t have come at a better time for Seattle, having lost seven out of their previous eight games. The victory pulled their record back to an even .500 at 18 wins and 18 losses. For Chicago, the 94-88 loss dropped their record down to 8 wins and 26 losses, which is 17 games under .500. This position has them staring down near-certain elimination from playoff contention. The only reason their playoff hopes still flickered at all was because the Washington Mystics fell to the Connecticut Sun on the same night.